2027: Ojelabi Warns Lagos APC Candidates Against Travelling Abroad
Kehinde Adeleye
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has directed its candidates not to travel outside Nigeria until after the 2027 general election.
The party’s state chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, gave the directive on Friday during the inauguration of the Tinubu-Hamzat Campaign Council at the APC secretariat on Acme Road, Ogba, Ikeja.
“No candidate is allowed to travel outside the country until after the general election,” Ojelabi said.
He said the directive was aimed at keeping party candidates and members focused on mobilisation ahead of the election.
Ojelabi also warned APC members against underestimating opposition parties in Lagos, urging members of the campaign council to remain committed to the party’s campaign.
He called for a campaign without hatred, thuggery or violence, while urging party members to work together despite disagreements that accompanied the primary elections.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the chairman of the campaign council’s Advisory Committee, while former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, serves as Director-General.
Deputy Governor and APC governorship candidate, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, saying he believed the President had met expectations during his first three years in office.
Hamzat urged APC members to campaign on what he described as the administration’s record and performance.
He said Lagos had made significant progress under APC governments and argued that the state was too important to be subjected to what he described as “trial and error” by political opponents.
“33 percent of GDP of Nigeria is from Lagos. Our state is too important to be subjected to trial and error in the hands of those who are struggling to understand the geography and people of Lagos,” Hamzat said.
He cited rail infrastructure, tax reforms, airport renovations and other projects as examples of what he described as progress under APC governments.
On the 2027 presidential election, Hamzat also defended Tinubu’s record, citing economic reforms, trade relations and developments around the Lekki corridor.
He criticised opposition parties over their comments on some infrastructure projects in Lagos.
Speaking on behalf of Governance Advisory Council leader, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, former Deputy Governor Prince Abiodun Ogunleye described Hamzat as a capable governorship candidate and urged Lagos residents to support him.
“We have the sign of victory ahead of the poll. The next governor is very competent. He served in various capacities. He is a man of great character. He will not disappoint Lagosians,” Ogunleye said.
Obanikoro said the 2027 election would require discipline, commitment and organisation from APC members.
He urged members to put disagreements from the primaries behind them, work as a team and conduct the campaign within the law.
“Unity must be our strength,” he said.
Ojelabi said the campaign committees were constituted to mobilise voters for the party’s candidates, adding that the APC would not take opposition parties for granted.
While Hamzat said the APC should seek between 3 million and 4 million votes from the state’s registered voters, Ojelabi put the party’s broader target at 5 million votes.
The inauguration was attended by APC leaders including Senators Wasiu Eshilokun, Idiat Adebule and Tokunbo Abiru; Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and his deputy, Mojisola Meranda; former Finance Minister Wale Edun; former commissioners and other party leaders.
The campaign council is expected to coordinate the party’s activities ahead of the 2027 general election.
